Selfish Seven
by Silver11
Summary: Seven of Nine faces the possibility that she just might be selfish.


          **Title:** "Selfish Seven"

          **Author:** "Silver," a.k.a Sarah G.

          **Author's E-mail:** Go get it from my author profile.  If you really want to contact me, then you'll take the time to click on the link to get there.

          **Author's Notes:** This story is rather old.  It's been sitting around on my hard drive gathering dust.  Not fun.  So I decided to publish it here, on impulse.  "Here" would be fanfiction.net.  If "here" happens to be somewhere other than fanfiction.net, then unless whoever put it there got my permission to use this story, they stole it.  I don't ask much of people who want to archive my stories, just that you ASK me first.  Reviews are welcome as long as you have more than two words to say, and as long as what you have to say is meaningful.  Flames will merely amuse me.  The story takes place sometime after the events of the episode "Thirty Days."  If you haven't seen that episode, then parts of the story probably won't make much sense to you.

          **Disclaimer:  This story is based around the characters, setting, etc. of the sci-fi television show _Star Trek: Voyager.  That and everything __Voyager are not mine; they are the trademarked and copyrighted work of Paramount and Viacom.  I'm not getting any money from this; it's just a little story.  No copyright or trademark infringements are intended.  The story is mine though, I wrote it.  So the story is copyrighted to me, and everything in the story belongs to someone else.  What a deal.  Anyway, here it is!  Enjoy._**

**"Selfish Seven"******

          "Seven what did you say that for?!  Now look what you've done!  You practically chased him out!"

          "I did not think it would offend him."

          "Well, why didn't you THINK?!  All you care about is yourself.  You, yourself, and... well, you.  Why don't you go back to that _Borg Bay of yours and learn some compassion!"_

          With that, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres stormed out of the messhall, leaving a bewildered Seven of Nine gazing after her.

          Seven sighed and took a long drink of her nutritional supplement.  She could not understand the cheif engineer's anger towards her.  Her earlier comment to Ensign Paris about his rank had sent him out the door.  It had most likely sent Lieutenant Torres out because they were... together.  A couple.  Perhaps Torres was upset because Seven had offended her partner.

          Seven sighed again as she finished her nutritional supplement.  She recycled it back into the replicator and walked out of the mess hall, heading for her "Borg Bay" to do some thinking.

          Perhaps she _was... selfish._

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

          Later that morning, Captain Janeway stifled a yawn as she sat in her chair on the bridge.  It had been a very uneventful morning, and she had been working late last night and only gotten a few hours of sleep, which was typical of her.  She looked at her first officer, Commander Chakotay, and saw him hold back his own yawn.  She smiled briefly to herself and faced the view screen.  Then she sighed and looked at the back of Ensign Paris' head.

          "Tom," she said, feeling the need to be entertained, "don't you have any... jokes today?"

          Tom sighed and turned in his chair to face her.  He had a sullen expression on his face.

          "Sorry, Captain," he said with another sigh, "rough morning."

          "Ah," said the intrepid captain of _Voyager as Tom turned back around.  So much for that.  It was a shame that Tom wasn't his peppy, witty self this morning.  He had either had a fight with B'Elanna, which she suspected the most, or something or someone had just downright cast a black cloud over his head, which somehow seemed unusual for Tom.  The captain was feeling restless through her drowsiness this morning, so she got up and said to her first officer, "You have the bridge, Commander.  I'll be in Astrometrics."_

          As she rode in the turbolift towards the deck her destination was on, she wondered how Seven could spend so many hours plotting star charts and studying spatial anomalies in one room.  It was probably her Borg efficiency shining through.  She walked out when the lift stopped with a smile and headed down to the Astrometrics lab, greeting several members of the crew on her way.  As she entered the spacious lab, Seven turned around to see who it was that was entering her domain, as usual.

          "Captain," she greeted her, then turned back around and started tapping at the console in front of her, images of nebulae and planets flashing across the lab's main view screen.  "Do you require my assistance?" she added as she worked.

          Janeway smiled.  "No, I just came to see how you were doing," she said as she approached the ex-Borg.  "There's not much to do on the bridge this morning.  The nearest planet is six light-years away, and space is clear for at least four light-years.  So what are you up to?"

          Seven sighed as she tapped at the controls.  "I am... attempting to... plot a new course which will... take us within range of an... M-class planet where we can gather food," she replied absently as she worked.

          "Well," said Janeway with a forced smile, "that certainly is a... constructive and... resourceful way to spend the morning."

          At this, Seven stopped working and faced Janeway, her arm slung over the console and her hand gripping the back in her usual position that she assumed while she was working with one hand.  "And... you wish to suggest... a _more constructive way to spend the morning?"_

          Janeway shook her head and smiled.  "No, Seven," she said gently, "you can just keep doing what you're doing... you're doing a good job of it," she added, gazing at the huge view screen in front of them.

          "I... thank you," said Seven, removing her arm from across the console and turning back to face it, now using both hands to work.  They flew across the controls with ease, and Janeway couldn't help but admire her "Borg efficiency".

          A course through the section of the Delta quadrant they were going through popped up on the view screen.

          "This is how we should proceed through this sector," Seven plainly stated.  Janeway nodded slowly as she looked it over.

          "Looks good to me.  Send it to Mr. Paris' station on the bridge so we can proceed on your modified course.  And be sure to let him know that I okayed it, and that I'm ordering him to change course," she said with a smile as Seven transmitted the course to the bridge, to Tom's station.  She sighed and turned to the Captain.

          "Captain, since you are here, I would like to ask you a question.  It is regarding a... social matter."

          Janeway smiled.  "Of course."

          Seven wasted no time in telling her story of that morning in the mess hall, and how Ensign Paris had gotten up and left when she had made a comment on his low rank due to his demotion following the incident with the Moneons, and how B'Elanna had called her, in a nutshell, selfish and then left herself.

          Janeway blinked as Seven finished her story, then sighed.  _That explains Tom's "rough morning", she thought_

          "Well, Seven," she finally said, "how do you feel about it?  Do you think you're selfish?  You should always be honest with yourself."

          Seven looked off into the room.  "I... had not considered it until Lieutenant Torres brought it up, I did not think... how it..." the young woman sighed, looking uncomfortable.  She shifted her weight to her right side, which was very uncommon for Seven unless she was feeling very nervous or upset.

          Janeway frowned and leaned back against the console, crossing her arms in front of her chest.  "Well, if you think you're selfish, then you should try to overcome your selfishness, improve yourself as a person, like most humans do.  I... could try to give you some suggestions..."

          Seven nodded.  "Yes, thank you Captain."

          Janeway was about to continue when suddenly the ship lurched to the side.  She sprang into action immediately, striding out of Astrometrics towards the turbolift with Seven in pursuit.

          "Red alert," they could hear Chakotay's voice over the comm system as the gray mode lights dimmed and the red alert lights flashed, "Captain to the bridge."

          Janeway was well ahead of him.  As soon as she stepped onto the bridge, the ship lurched again.  Sparks flew and alarms buzzed.

          "Report!" yelled the captain through the chaos.  It was Chakotay who answered her.

          "Captain, we're being attacked by an alien ship that appears more technologically advanced than _Voyager.  We've tried hailing them, and we haven't gotten a response yet."  At this point, he turned to Seven of Nine, and gestured towards the view screen.  "Seven, have you encountered this species before?"_

          Seven took a look at the ship on the screen as the ship fired on _Voyager again and they all rocked to the side.  "Yes.  They tried to steal metallic alloys from a Borg ship and were assimilated.  They were very... selfish people."_

          _That would explain where some of your selfishness came from, Seven, thought Tom bitterly as he tapped furiously away at the helm, following through with the evasive maneuvers Chakotay had ordered him to perform._

          Janeway planted herself in her command chair and Chakotay sat in his while Seven watched from next to the Ops station where Ensign Kim stood.  "They're coming about!" he called.

          "Mr. Paris, get us out of here, warp six!" called out Janeway.

          Paris tapped at his controls and shouted back over the alarms, "I can't, they've got some sort of tractor beam on us!"

          Janeway turned to face Kim.  "Harry, can you disrupt it?"

          Harry Kim shook his head after some analysis at his console.  "I'm sorry Captain.  Sensors are scrambled.  They're barely picking it up in the first place."

          Janeway sighed and turned around.  "Commander..." she started, but that was as far as she got before Kim stated, "Captain, they've stopped their attack and are hailing us."

          The Captain sighed and stood up, planting her hands on her hips, facing the main view screen.  "Open a channel," she said firmly.

          Three pudgy aliens with golden skin and ridges on their large noses appeared in front of the bridge crew on the screen.

          "We are the Bankarions," the larger of the three stated gruffly, "lower your shields and surrender the Borg drone on your vessel immediately."

          Seven looked up at that.  Why should they want her?

          Janeway scowled and shook her head vigorously.  "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship _Voyager.  I won't surrender her.  She's been disconnected from the Collective and is now a valued member of my crew."_

          The alien leaned in closer to the screen.  "Borg drones of ANY kind are ILLEGAL in this sector.  You will turn it, or _SHE, over to us or your ship will be destroyed."_

          Janeway was about to answer him when Seven rushed off the bridge into the turbolift.  She immediately tapped her comm-badge.  "Janeway to Seven of Nine.  What are you doing?"

          There was silence over the comm system.

          "Seven!  Respond!"

          Still nothing.

          "Captain, she's in cargo bay two.  She's trying to bypass transporter protocols and beam over to that ship,"  Harry answered.

          "Stop her!" said Janeway urgently.

          "I can't," came Harry's reply, "she's using a Borg encryption code to shut out my commands.  She's beamed over to the alien ship."

          The Captain gazed at the view screen in shock as the alien smirked and went off the screen, closing the comm link and his ship warping away, leaving _Voyager dead in the water and minus one ex-Borg drone._

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

          Seven of Nine was shoved into a cold metallic cell on the alien ship, and was told that they would be coming to do away with her the next morning when they reached the home planet.  She sat in the corner with her legs held tightly to her chest by trembling arms.  She was afraid.  She could recall only a few times in her existence when she had experienced fear.  She had always considered it a weakness, though Captain Janeway had once told her it was a strength.  She could not understand how that could possibly be true.  All that mattered now to her was that the crew of _Voyager was safe, and she had done her deed of selflessness.  She wondered what Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Paris would think of her now.  What... and __who... would she be remembered as?  She sat in silence and pondered this in the cold darkness of the cell, which was almost a separate night.  When the door opened and daylight came to the night, she would be dragged off and killed.  Her life... her existence... ended.  For good.  What would that be like?  Would her last moments be filled with pain, or would they be peaceful?  She imagined that these aliens would try to make her end as painful as possible._

          Seven swallowed and buried her face against her knees.  She resolved not to think about this any more.  She listened to the silence.

          And she heard something.

          At first it sounded like... a scraping... metal against metal.  Then it turned to metal tearing, a nerve-wracking sound, even in her ears.  She gulped and stood up, wondering where the sound was coming from.  It seemed to be right above her.  She moved to the other side of the cell and pressed her body against the wall.  The metal ceiling over where she had been sitting was literally torn away like a sheet of paper... and someone started to come through.

          It was Ensign Paris.

          "Seven, you're all right," he said with a hint of relief in his voice.  "Here, come with me, the shuttle Tuvok and I came on is hidden from the aliens by their own cloaking device.  I'll explain later, just hurry!"

          Seven was happy to do so.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

          "Seven, we owe you our lives.  Thank you.  That was a very... selfless thing for you to do," B'Elanna said to Seven with a smile as they sat in the mess hall at a table across from each other the next day.

          Seven sighed and took a drink of her nutritional supplement.  "And now... you do not think of me as... selfish?"

          B'Elanna quickly shook her head.  "No, I don't.  So maybe you can be a bit... conceited at times, but... in the big picture, you're one of the most selfless people I know."

          Seven was glad Lieutenant Torres thought that.  She was also glad that she had been deemed unselfish.

          And then...

          She smiled.

The End.


End file.
